The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
And each chance i get to get close to you
The shadows come and the late afternoon makes
The warmth withdraw like a dive bell sinks
The air turns to octopus ink
I met her at the county fair
My first impressions cleaved in pairs
Hair that tumbled, eyes of steam
All nature seemed in harmony
The times you only feel one way
Are times that you remember most
But then you're wrong 'cause most those times
You really have been feeling both
I met her at the chestnut tree
And all despair abandoned me
Down by the armory we walked
And music was the words she talked
Where does all the good luck lie?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where those bright lodes glow
Go deeper in the mountain side
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that rock and dirt
Which way when the good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i
I hear a knock on my door
Someone's waiting outside
Waiting outside, what for?
My ride
And beneath moonless hills Chinese nocturnes
Breathe Cantonese through young Joe Byrne
Horsefly, shanghaied, stay home
And you won't ever be alone they lie
The engineer fortuity
Her tool box full with mercury
Lobs heart attacks from chandeliers
Sends rescuers with frozen beards
And other empty monologues
About mineshafts trimmed like synagogues
Man, she don't hate the ones she kills
But she don't love the mouths she fills
And if it's all supposed to mean something
It's nothing he's interested in
One thing Joe Byrne won't never know
Is you only get what you let go
He pitched his tent down Havilah
So he would never have to travel far
It don't matter Chinese or Afghan
All that he wants grows on dry land
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where the doomed roam free
With poppy seeds and armored hides
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that frozen dirt
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i hear an engine running
And i see a headlamp shine
And i feel my heart is sinking
And lord
Lord my ride
Lord my ride
Is waiting outside what for?
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
The shadows come and the late afternoon makes
The warmth withdraw like a dive bell sinks
The air turns to octopus ink
I met her at the county fair
My first impressions cleaved in pairs
Hair that tumbled, eyes of steam
All nature seemed in harmony
The times you only feel one way
Are times that you remember most
But then you're wrong 'cause most those times
You really have been feeling both
I met her at the chestnut tree
And all despair abandoned me
Down by the armory we walked
And music was the words she talked
Where does all the good luck lie?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where those bright lodes glow
Go deeper in the mountain side
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that rock and dirt
Which way when the good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i
I hear a knock on my door
Someone's waiting outside
Waiting outside, what for?
My ride
And beneath moonless hills Chinese nocturnes
Breathe Cantonese through young Joe Byrne
Horsefly, shanghaied, stay home
And you won't ever be alone they lie
The engineer fortuity
Her tool box full with mercury
Lobs heart attacks from chandeliers
Sends rescuers with frozen beards
And other empty monologues
About mineshafts trimmed like synagogues
Man, she don't hate the ones she kills
But she don't love the mouths she fills
And if it's all supposed to mean something
It's nothing he's interested in
One thing Joe Byrne won't never know
Is you only get what you let go
He pitched his tent down Havilah
So he would never have to travel far
It don't matter Chinese or Afghan
All that he wants grows on dry land
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where the doomed roam free
With poppy seeds and armored hides
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that frozen dirt
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i hear an engine running
And i see a headlamp shine
And i feel my heart is sinking
And lord
Lord my ride
Lord my ride
Is waiting outside what for?
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
Lyrics submitted by andrew88
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
about a relationship that is constantly uncertain as to where it's going. i can relate a lot. he describes his first encounters with her, when he fell in love with her, in a really nostalgic, longing way. since then, though, chances to get close to her haven't been so successful and he's left wondering "Which way does my good luck lie" - whether he'll have better luck in the future and how long he will have to wait until that happens - and "Which way if my luck deserts" - pretty straightforward really, he's anxious about whether the opportunity of establishing a more stable relationship with this girl will fizzle out entirely at any given point, and what he'll be left with if that happens ("Dig deeper in that frozen dirt" being a reference to sinking into depression). i'm guessing the joe byrne references are him using the story of the kelly gang lieutenant as a metaphor for relationship issues. the "I hear a knock on my door" / "To be nailed to a door" part is about expectation and disappointment respectively. brilliant.
I think the song involves a little more than just personal relationships. I think Liddiard is drawing on the album title here to make reference to modern Australia's mining boom and the social consequences of another 'gold rush'. Obviously, he's tying that into a relationship story and it can be read as a personal relationship or, in this reading, perhaps a transnational one. Perhaps Joe Byrne is a modern fly-in, fly-out miner digging coal/iron ore for the 'Cantonese', giving up lifestyle for cash. But...<br /> <br /> "Which way if my luck deserts?/Dig deeper in that rock and dirt/Which way when the good luck dies?"<br /> <br /> And maybe that's the folly of pitching your tent at 'Havilah', where working/living in the 'golden' sands of Australia's mining towns is really missing the point of life. <br /> <br /> "And if it's all supposed to mean something<br /> It's nothing he's interested in<br /> One thing Joe Byrne won't never know<br /> Is you only get what you let go<br /> <br /> He pitched his tent down Havilah<br /> So he would never have to travel far<br /> It don't matter Chinese or Afghan<br /> All that he wants grows on dry land"
"Perhaps Joe Byrne is a modern fly-in, fly-out miner..." Quite possibly, but it also refers to Joe Byrne -- the Kelly Gang member -- who known for speaking Cantonese and associated with the Chinese community. Like many of the rural poor, Byrne came from a social sector that sought to make a living by panning for gold. At the very least, the song references this and the rural poor in north-east Victoria in the time of the Kelly Gang, even as it uses this to tell a story on different levels.<br /> <br /> The lines "And I, I hear a knock on my door. Someone's waiting outside. Waiting outside, what for?" suggests the possiblity the song is about, or those lines at least are meant to evoke, Aaron Sherritt, who was a close friend of Byrne's and a supporter of the Kelly Gang. When the Kelly Gang found out he was receiving money as a police informer (though it is unclear whether he was deliberately misleading police or not) Byrne knocked on his door late at night and shot him dead.<br /> <br /> The song, at least, seems to refer to Byrne and possibly to Sherritt's killing, even if it also works of different levels and refers to relationships in general -- an quite possible in the context sof modern day miners and transnationals.
From E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. bartleby.com/81/12322.html
"Luck in odd numbers. A major chord consists of a fundamental or tonic, its major third, and its just fifth. According to the Pythagore’an system, “all nature is a harmony,” man is a full chord; and all beyond is Deity, so that nine represents deity. As the odd numbers are the fundamental notes of nature, the last being deity, it will be easy to see how they came to be considered the great or lucky numbers. In China, odd numbers belong to heaven, and v.v. (See DIAPASON, NUMBER.)“
“Good luck lies in odd numbers… They say, there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death.”—Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, v. 1.
“No doubt the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, play a far more important part than the even numbers. One is Deity, three the Trinity, five the chief division (see FIVE), seven is the sacred number, and nine is three times three, the great climacteric.“
Interesting use of the line "all nature seemed in harmony".
The second part of the song about Joe Byrne reference not only that he knew the Chinese miners and spoke Cantonese, he smoked opium with them too.
"It don't matter Chinese or Afghan All that he wants grows on dry land"
and
"Show me where the doomed roam free With poppy seeds and armored hides"
In fact, much of the song musically and (in the second half) lyrically evokes the imagery of a mine in a dreamlike opium haze.